Trip Report - Timberline Mt. Hood 10/28/00

Mary and Terry go to the Timberline Lodge in Mt. Hood, Oregon for the second annual Terry Gets To Ski On His Birthday Trip.

Day 1: Arrival and a Little Walk

We arrive on the afternoon of Saturday, 10/28. We couldn't get a room at the Timberline Lodge, so we stay at the Huckleberry Inn in Government Camp. It's a quaint little inn with a 24-hour restaurant. I've brought my AT gear in case the lifts don't run, but Mary doesn't have any. Downstairs is a nordic rental shop that just opened for the season, so I pop down and rent a pair of snowshoes for Mary. Now there's no excuse to keep me from skiing on my birthday.

We settle into our room at the Huckleberry, then drive up to the Timberline Lodge for a little walk-around. A mile away and 1,000 feet up from the Lodge is the Silcox Hut, a nice walk up a gully as the sun lowers in the sky.

As we climb the route to the Silcox Hut, Mary starts getting too hot. Even though it's about 30 degrees, she keeps complainng about how miserable she was. I just keep encouraging her to keep going, and to remove clothing if she's still hot.

After a half-hour of complaining, clothing removal, and "encouragement", we arrive at the Silcox Hut. The visibility is about 50 feet, the light is fading, and snow has started to fall. The trip down the hill is very pleasant.

Day Two: Time for Skiing

We get an early start the next morning, have a hearty breakfast at the Huckleberry Inn, check out and head to the Timberline for some skiing! There's a heavy cloud cover, but it's hard to know if any snow fell on the mountain. The snow report confirms that 10 inches of new snow has fallen on the mountain, and snow is expected to continue all day today. Visibility is 100 yards, so they've decided to open the lifts. Things are looking up.

The lifts are scheduled to open at 9:00, so we head over to the chair a few minutes before nine. There's already a line.

We stand in line, and stand in line, then stand some more. No lifts moving, and it's now 9:30. Finally, the bullwheel starts turning at 9:40, and we're on our way a few minutes later. When we get to the top, it's snowing, and the visibility is 50 yards. The ski patrol has closed all but a narrow run next to the chair lifts, and all the waiting and sitting has frozen my fingers. But we're skiing!

After two runs, it's clear that my hands are getting frostbitten. All that waiting around has taken its toll, but that's the last time I wear snowboarder gloves. Since there are no warming huts on the mountain, we head back down to the day lodge to thaw them out. We eat, we drink, we thaw out, and Mary insists I buy some new gloves. Thanks, Mary.

Then it's back up the lifts for some more skiing. The visibility continues to improve, and the ski patrol opens up the rest of the Palmer Snowfield. We head out onto the snowfied to discover a foot of untracked powder on top of groomed. Making turns is effortless—more like flying or floating than skiing. I'm always amazed that it only takes a couple of runs to get the technique back again, and this is the perfect ego snow for making first turns. We do laps on the Palmer snowfield until the lifts close. Wow, it's great to be skiing again!

Day 3: Birthday Hike

Since I brought my AT gear, I insist we do some touring before going home. Mary can use the snowshoes I rented, and I'll carry her skis and boots in my backpack. The weather is a mix of blue sky and a few clouds, so it looks like a perfect day for touring. We start up the same route we took to the Silcox Hut, two days ago.

Day 4: Heading Home

All good things, etc,. and this was a good one. Only thing left to do is pack up and head home.

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